IMRS relaunched as Misean Cara

The Irish Missionary Resource Service (IMRS) was recently relaunched as Misean Cara. The subtitle is “Mission Support from Ireland”. This new name indicates a shift of emphasis, from Irish missionaries bringing the faith out to peoples, to Irish support for the indigenous churches of formerly missionary countries, which are now themselves the source of missionary effort. The rebranding was marked by speakers such as Liz O’Donnell, former Minister of State, Indian Sr Terry Abrahams and Tullamore Jesuit Michael Kelly (both pictured here). Zambian Sr Pereka Nyirenda, also present, summarised: “People on the ground in Zambia say: they came to us, they lived with us, they learned from us, they loved us. They started with what we knew. They built with what we had. Now that the work is done and the task is accomplished, we can truly say that we were enabled to do this work ourselves.” Read more »

Fun continues on JRS Ireland’s Summer Programme

A Family Fun Day will be held in Mountjoy Square Park on Thursday 24 July for the families of asylum seekers who are participating in JRS Ireland’s Summer Programme. The programme has been running since July 10 and has catered in many and varied ways for Dublin-based asylum seekers and their families. There have been twice-weekly swimming sessions for the children, as well as workshops and art classes. The Family Fun Day will involve treasure hunts, face painting, circus games, kite making, races, football and a picnic. The Summer Programme will continue into August with a trip to a working farm in Wicklow, a trip to the beach (weather permitting), bowling, swimming and art workshops. For more details, contact JRS Ireland.

Master of Emo

Cholmeley Dering Harrison, who died in Emo on 18 July, had a long association with Irish Jesuits, beginning with his 1969 purchase (for £42,500!) of Emo and its huge walled estate. Though he was unhappy with some of the alterations made to adapt the place for a noviciate, he recognised that we had rescued the magnificent house and estate from rack and ruin, and poured sweat and tears into its maintenance. He was a congenial host to visiting Jesuits, and was a particular friend of Fr Conor Harper. May God be good to him. There will be a memorial service in St John’s Church, Coolbanagher, on 9 September, which would have been his 100th birthday.

Miscellaneous

John Dardis is in Rome, after a heavy weekend mastering Moodle (see story above), and briefing Fr Stephen Buckland SJ, the Zimbabwean-born Jesuit (pictured here with John) who will take over as Zimbabwean Provincial on 30 July.

Mass in Gardiner Street church for the feast of St Ignatius Loyola, on Thursday 31 July, will be at 11 a.m., with a homily by Fr Brendan Comerford SJ. All are welcome to the Mass, especially Jesuits and colleagues and friends of Jesuits.

Our former editor Brendan McManus is plunging into Galway life by taking an intense Irish language course in Carraroe. Of the 65 adults on the course, only two are Irish.

Bill Mathews is just back from an excellent Madrid conference on Religion and Science which has become the new focus of Bill’s academic energies.

Walking with saints

Walking 400 miles in 6 weeks, on a budget of £4 a day for food and accommodation, Eddie Cosgrove, a Jesuit novice from the Irish Province, together with Kensy Joseph of the British Province, have just completed their pilgrimage experiment in Britain. Retracing the footsteps of the Northern Saints, including St Columcille, St Aidan, St Cuthbert and St Hilda, they began their pilgrimage at York, walked to Lindisfarne (Holy Island), and ended on the island of Iona. From sleeping in farmers’ sheds, strangers’ beds, and even a free night in a hotel, Eddie shared some of their experiences of providence, the kindness of strangers, and a simple lifestyle on this adventure.

Moodling

Moodle, as every schoolboy knows, stands for Modular Organic Online Dynamic Learning Environment. To moodle also means to meander, wander about aimlessly. But there was nothing aimless about the day spent by the Provincial and some twenty of his more boffiny brethren and sisters in Belvedere on 18th July. A large Brummie (native of Birmingham) called Luke Sweeney, with the voice of a sergeant major and an inexplicable attachment to a soccer team called Aston Villa, led them with enormous energy through the intricacies of Moodle. He was a good teacher, and the whole operation was interactive, with everyone working at their own computers, but in immediate touch with everyone else through Moodle. What remains is to extend that level of communication to larger groups in and beyond the Province.

Meeting CLC President

The World President of Christian Life Communities (CLC), Daniela Frank, visited Ireland on Sunday 13 July on NGO business, and took the opportunity to meet members of the Irish National Community. Six members of the Executive Committee, including the Irish delegation who will attend the World Assembly in Fatima from 11 to 24 August, met Daniela over lunch. CLC is a worldwide lay organisation, lived out in small groups of 6-10 people who strive to live a common way of life based on the Exercises of St Ignatius. This helps members from all walks of life to integrate prayer and action in daily life and to respond more fully to God’s loving desire for them. For further details see the CLC website.